It’s good to tax people when you 1st prove you manage funds efficiently and transparently. When you have a problem making the present state efficient and transparent, more money will lead to more inefficiency and less transparency.
With the exception of nordic models – where pure luck residing in natural resource exports, the bedrock of their “sovereign fund”, enabled an efficient and transparent model, which was used to build an indestructible political caste, but at least it is, still, efficient and transparent – I can hardly name a country doing well on this front. It’s not a local problem.
If the central government comes up with the idea of raising taxes, generally people are taxed to:
• settle geopolitical bills (e.g. support sanctions, paying tribute to alliances – generally via the military industrial complex)
• sustain inflation caused by globalisation (e.g. quantitative easing, owning toxic assets, loss of economic sovereignty)
• create short term bandaids to long term wounds (e.g. tension between sourcing welfare from the people and also supporting depopulation)
… and the like.
For infrastructure, common wealth creation and the like it’s usually local government who creates taxes. Much easier to track and disband once they’re pointless. Generic taxes on income for generic things from the center are never for the good of the people. They’re always the same old feudal lord taking. but now it’s “elected”.
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